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Aquarium Dream turns into a Nightmare.

3K views 31 replies 19 participants last post by  Chulios66 
#1 · (Edited)
Long story short: I set up a new 20g tank around the middle of March. It was looking great the first week and a half but then things started to change. It used to house 6 mollies and three other fish that I can't remember. The fish kept on dying one by one along with all of my red cherry shrimp, not from the water quality but from a parasite. I received these parasites from my lfs, but I quarantined them for about a week and treated them with a parasite medication. Turns out that they survived somehow and I am still fighting them as they are in some of my fish. These parasites have also found their ways into ALL of my tanks and I am doing my best to get rid of them. Now because of these parasites, I have no more Red Cherry Shrimp, I lost over $15.00 for each fish, and the fish tank is slowly falling apart.:icon_cry:
 
#2 ·
$15 in fish isn't a nightmare.

My recommendation is to start over from scratch if you can't kill the parasite, or post over in the relevant section requesting help. don't purchase from the LFS again, start from scratch with a clean tank... I'm guessing maybe a dilute bleach/water solution to kill anything on the glass.

this isn't a nightmare, just a little set back
 
#3 ·
^^ +1

$15 is nothing in the scheme of things. Initial fish loss isn't uncommon, and is just a minor setback. Any idea what the parasite is? And do you have any remaining life forms in the tank (fish, plants, shrimp, snails)?

I'd say write it off and start from scratch. Look into treatment options and start there. Remember to treat EVERYTHING in your tank. Decorations, glass, substrate, heaters, filters... anything that the parasite could live in/on. Best of luck!
 
#4 ·
I assume a typo with $15.

Losing $15 sucks, losing $150 sucks ten-fold.

That said, you are probably the carrier of the parasite between tanks. Either on your person or by sharing tools between tanks and not cleaning them. How do we know that we are dealing with a parasite?

You say you set the tank up around the middle of March, yet it is only early April... Did you cycle the tank at all?
 
#6 ·
Losing $15 sucks, losing $150 sucks ten-fold.
In the long run you'll realize that $150 is nothing, once you get into the more expensive stock losing a single fish, shrimp, or coral will cost you three to four times that. And over the years you will lose a lot no matter what you do. Just pick up what's left, learn from your mistakes, and don't sweat it.

Aquarium keeping is by no means a cheap hobby.
 
#13 ·
Just because you found white worms doesn't mean you have a parasite.

They could be any number of non fish killing worms.

Did you even cycle this tank?

$15 for a mollie isn't realistic IMO..
 
#15 ·
If you setup around the middle of March, that's less than a month and nothing alive except maybe snails should be in the water in the first week of April. Cycled filter or not, my tanks get about 2 months before anything other than snails gets added to it so it has time to stabilize and if the snails die, something is really wrong.

White worms on the glass or gravel are usually a sign of overfeeding and bad water quality.
 
#16 ·
White worms on the glass or gravel are usually a sign of overfeeding and bad water quality.
Kinda yes kinda no. There's nothing really to eat them in shrimp tanks. In fish tanks, I agree with you.
 
#18 ·
Planaria is more like leeches... more slug and less wormy.

It is highly unlikely that this tank was adequately cycled and stocked in the 3 week period that could sustain life without casualty unless you used products like microb-lift niteout 2 and special blend or equivalent.

If this were the case, there would likely be mention of water params, water change schedules, tds and focused on toxicity rather than chalking it up to wormy parasites. Has the water been changed or even tested for ammonia, nitrates and nitrides?

Is your water gh/kh/ph sufficient to sustain invertebrates... death within 2-3 weeks is actually common for shrimp living in ill suited water conditions as they can pretty much hold until such time...
 
#19 ·
What kind of fish did you pay $15 for?

  • Also can you list off your equipment you used with your 20G Long?
  • Brand & model number filter?
  • What is the specific type of medication you used?

From what you're describing.... it sounds more like AMMONIA poisoning than some sort of major parasite infestation, but without photographs, there's no way you can make sure you followed the recommended treatment method to rid yourself of the worms.

A few weeks ago.... I met a person to trade plants for a portion of fish food & he told me a little story about his latest disaster & he used some sort of "STRANGE" unlabeled medication, I FORGET what he was treating.... oh it was Calamus worms. He used some "White stuff" on his 20G that he bought at some small pet store that was also KNOWN to sell unique adult videos on the side.

"WHITE stuff" can be ANYTHING. But I found the cala worms story & treatment method... absolutely HILARIOUS, I could tell he was desperate to rid himself of the worms that were "dangling" out of the guppies, but to use some unlabeled medication probably wasn't the "best idea".

As ACD suggested, post your "water test" results.
 
#21 ·
What kind of fish did you pay $15 for?
i'd really like to know this... did you put a clown fish in there?

A few weeks ago.... I met a person to trade plants for a portion of fish food & he told me a little story about his latest disaster & he used some sort of "STRANGE" unlabeled medication, I FORGET what he was treating.... oh it was Calamus worms. He used some "White stuff" on his 20G that he bought at some small pet store that was also KNOWN to sell unique adult videos on the side.
:icon_lol:
 
#26 ·
The worms are white and they are over the water line in the spots that have some moisture when I turn the lights on in the morning. They aren't flat, but they look like a strand of hair. They have survived three different types of parasite killers and none of them work. Maybe this will help in showing what I mean. This isn't my tank, but the worms look just like the ones I have.
 
#30 ·
The worms are white and they are over the water line in the spots that have some moisture when I turn the lights on in the morning. They aren't flat, but they look like a strand of hair. They have survived three different types of parasite killers and none of them work. Maybe this will help in showing what I mean. This isn't my tank, but the worms look just like the ones I have. HAIR WORMS....Planaria ( tropical fish tank parasites) - YouTube
water is not clean, over feeding, happy worms.

those worms are not parasites, and parasites kill fish in months, not days.
add too much medicine in dirty water, fish will turn belly up for you.

change the tank water and feed once or twice a day, all food gone less than 5 minutes.
add cory cat, they like those worms, and they can clean the bottom well.
 
#29 ·
Had worms like that before from overfeeding and not changing my water. They usually gather on the glass at night and when you turn the light on they are the most bunched up. I would do small water changes, grab a paper towel and with a quick wipe, wipe up as many worms as I could first thing in the morning, cut down on feeding and they should go away. Fact that you saw one on a fish was probably either a parasite on that fish or coincidence. Those are common worms from bad water quality due to a tank not being stable and over feeding and over stocking and not enough water changes. 99% sure on that.
 
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